Contents

Biography

Early life

Marchand was born in Amiens, near the frontline of the First World War.

Marchand was a firefighter in Paris in the 1930s. He was a prisoner-of-war during World War II. He then moved to Venezuela, where he was a lorry driver and sugarcane planter. In the 1950s he went to Canada, where he had a job as a lumberjack. He returned to France in 1960 and worked as a gardener and wine dealer until 1987.

He took an active part during the strikes of 1936 in France that gave birth to the modern era foundations of French employment legislation.

He is a member of the French Communist Party and the CGT Trade Union, the longest-serving member still living, with 90 years of membership.

Career

Aged 35 he finished seventh in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1946. He returned to cycling in 1978 and continued training after his 100th birthday. In February 2012, he set a world record in one-hour track cycling in the over-100 age group at 24.250 kilometres (15.068 mi). He improved this record to 26.927 kilometres (16.732 mi) in January 2014.

On 4 January 2017, he set a world record in one-hour track cycling in the over-105 age group, covering 22.547 kilometres (14.010 mi) in one hour, and the 105 years old centenarian declared: "I could have done better, if I had seen the 10-minute warning card, otherwise I would have pedalled slightly faster".

At the age of 105 he was recognised as the world's oldest competitive cyclist by Guinness World Records.

Marchand puts his remarkable fitness and longevity down to a diet consisting of: lots of fruit and vegetables, a little meat, not too much coffee – and an hour a day on the cycling home-trainer.

After he turned 106 Marchand’s doctors advised him to stop competing for world records. He obliged, but refused to quit racing completely. In early February 2018 Marchand completed a 4,000-meter race in the same stadium where he made his last record.

Marchand celebrated his 107th birthday by going for a 20-kilometre bike ride in the Ardèche.

After his 108th birthday Marchand stopped riding bikes outdoors due to hearing loss.